Fierce overnight winds knock out power to 40,000 Colorado residents

Shake, rattle, blow

Vanessa Williams, left, and her daughter Symone Vinson assess damage done to the family's home Wednesday. An overnight windstorm brought this huge silver maple tree down on top of the home of her parents, Herman and Ruthie Bray. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

Wind gusts that ripped over Loveland Pass at 89 mph and along the Front Range in the lower 60s knocked out power to about 40,000 Xcel Energy customers late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

Some were without power late into the day.

A cold front from the northwest blew in around 10 p.m. Tuesday and downed power lines, Xcel spokesman Mark Stutz said. The strongest gusts were recorded between 11 a.m. and midnight.

Branches were blown, and trees were uprooted, and some fell into electrical lines. In some cases, power lines were swinging into each other, and heavy debris was blowing into lines.

"There were a lot of things happening that caused damage last night, all related to the wind," Stutz said. "This storm came in like a sustained microburst."

Extra crews were called in to restore lines and repair damage, Stutz said.

Denver Fire Department spokesman Lt. Phil Champagne said the department fielded quite a few wind-related calls overnight, including a report of a large silver maple uprooted by a gust. It landed on a house in the 3300 block of Fillmore Street. No injuries were reported.

The city of Denver has two sites where residents can drop off downed tree branches: Havana Nursery, 10450 Smith Road, enter off Havana Street; and Barnum Park North, 3144 W. Sixth Ave., in the east parking lot with access from Eighth Avenue and Federal Boulevard.

Both sites will be open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday
. People using the sites must bring proof of Denver residency.

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Branches, no larger than 4 inches in diameter and less than 4 feet in length, also can be bundled and put out as part of regular trash collection. Bundles must weigh less than 50 pounds.

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